Member's statement: Northern Ireland Peace Index

Member's statement by Ms Paula Bradshaw on 8 September 2026.

MLA

Ms Paula Bradshaw

Party at the time

Alliance Party

Date

8 September 2026

Type

Member's statement

Business

Members' Statements

Heading

Northern Ireland Peace Index

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5673759

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Last week, Queen's University Belfast and the Institute for Economics and Peace launched the positive peace report, and I thank them for their work on that. The report provides an important understanding of where we have made progress, where we have stalled and what we need to do next in Northern Ireland. Two of its findings are particularly important. The first is that paramilitary activity has fallen by 44·7% since 2019. The second is that homicide is down by 47·9%. That is significant progress, and we should recognise and acknowledge the effectiveness of the Executive's programme on tackling paramilitarism and organised crime in bringing about that progress. The positive peace report makes an important distinction between positive peace and negative peace: negative peace being the reduction of violence; and positive peace being that the institutions, relationships and social conditions are improving how we make peace sustainable here.

It is clear overall that communities and partners across government are working and that, if the engagement is sustained, it will be able to eradicate paramilitarism once and for all. As I say, it is important that the report highlights the distinction in that work. We in the Chamber know that paramilitarism is more than paramilitary shootings and attacks. It is about intimidation, sexual exploitation, coercive control, organised crime and the undermining of the rule of law. That is why the response of the Executive and their statutory partners must be about more than reducing incidents. It must be about removing the conditions in which paramilitary organisations can retain their negative and toxic influence. That means strong policing and law enforcement, but it is also about giving young people genuine alternatives through education opportunities and investment in the areas that will help them flourish. That is why we in the Alliance Party have been sceptical about the potential for an independent interlocutor to persuade paramilitary leaders to voluntarily pack up and disband once and for all. We do not believe that those groups need to be made an offer to do that. Their activities are criminal, and we need to dismantle the structures that allow them to exert control over the communities in which they operate. We should not confer legitimacy on criminal organisations by treating them as political actors. The rule of law must be the only legitimate authority. That does not mean that we should be passive; we should be ambitious. The current Executive programme is due to conclude in March 2027, and we need to use the progress made to develop the next phase of our approach. That is why the report is such a valuable benchmark in supporting that work. The people whom we represent deserve a society in which democratic institutions, not criminal organisations, have authority, and that is why —

— we should all strive for positive peace.

471 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 16:17 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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